Almost 30 women came out on Saturday to enjoy the sunshine and pick up a few tips from three local racers. Johanna Kraus, Michele Co and Christy Tankersly spent some quality time at Walnut Creek with various obstacles and drills to instruct and fine tune skills that relate to all aspects of mountain biking.

Last serious race for the season for me, the rest (if any) will be done for fun or to support the promoter.

End of season wattage is dropping a bit (only 5-6 watts, but that’s enough to lose 40 seconds). Ran the highest average heart rate I have ever seen- just was getting a bit less for it.

Here is my SRM file if you want to see the suffering, average 169 HR which is above my HR threshold basically the entire time:

SRM #1:

Duration: 51:54 (57:52) Work: 912 kJ TSS: 90.4 (intensity factor 1.022) Norm Power: 296 VI: 1.01 Pw:HR: 10.17%

Hello Everybody – Another great turn out for the wooden bridges TT. Very impressive
times posted tonight despite a slight head wind:

20:15 eric fletcher
21:06 saul yeaton
21:42 gary hoffman
22:06 jim neal
22:17 rick perrault
22:50 ken nail
23:10 david morris
24:29 brad yoder
24:58 jake “state champion” king
25:23 luther bardan
25:37 matt loflin
25:57 michele yeaton
26:46 nicole keroack
28:12 kristen burbaker

Hope to see you again next month!
Cheers,
Alice Fletcher (co-captain)

My big rear end certainly wasn’t so aggressive on such a hilly course . The race was one of attrition as a each lap attacks on the toughest of the two climbs caused big splits in the field . At around 20 miles to go a group of three rolled off the front with 9 of us chasing . There was a small field of probably 10 chasing us that at that point. With around three miles left I got away with two other fellas and we held it until the end as Dan aggravated the chase …. man , i was glad that was over .

Hey all,

The next TT ride is Wednesday August 6th at 6-6:30pm. This highly popular ride gives you a chance to break out your aero bars and wheels and get your fast on. Riders will be timed with the finest Timex Ironman watch technology $30 can buy! Ride is open to everyone.

Tips about TT riding and gear available before and after the ride. As this is a monthly series this is a good way to benchmark yourself throughout the summer. As this is a solo timed ride, this is the perfect B or even C level ride. You are riding against the clock, not other riders.

I had a mtg in Milwaukee last thurs so I did a couple of the superweek races and finished up racing with (behind) Chris Horner and Fred Rodriguez in a ProAm in downtown Chicago . The superweek races were really fast with around 100 riders in each field . I was in the money ….not quite enough to pay for gas .

If you are racing Page Valley this weekend and/or the 24th and haven’t had a chance to preview the course, Miles and I did it yesterday. It’s a bit like Jeff Cup but with nastier climbs.

The first test begins after the right hand turn onto Hollow Run Road (629). Watch this turn, there was a ton of gravel that hopefully will be swept. Shortly after the turn and around the 4.5 mile point you start a 1.75 mile steady climb. The first 1.25 is no big deal but the last .5 mile we agreed is equivalent in grade to the Reas Ford climb back up to Woodlands.

First ride on the new Specialized Transition carbon fiber TT frame (my old one went to a fellow CRC rider, which is cool). I was a bit worried, as the new position is super aggressive and I had no real time on the bike before I had to “grip it and rip it” in the State Masters TT Championship. But my form was good, so I felt I had a chance to ride well.